Justin Shaheen Buck

Franklin County , NY 13-point

As told by Justin Shaheen

It was a rainy Friday morning, the second week of November 2021. My Daughter was born November 8th. Lack of sleep and the forecast of rain until about 10 am kept me in bed an extra hour or two. I headed up to camp and hopped on my four wheeler to head to my watch as the rain was letting up. I reached my parking spot and headed down an old skid trail towards “Jerry’s Rock”. I wasn’t 100 yards from my four wheeler when I caught a glimpse of a deer heading up toward me through some blow down just above the swamp.

Just like my dad always told me, it happens when you least expect it. I had a new hunting backpack on and it was packed full to sit until dark. I scoped the deer and at that moment he picked his head up as he continued walking. I saw a heavy main beam that wrapped around on each side of his head... my heart started thumping.

I assessed my shooting lanes, which turned out to be just one small window when he stepped behind a top of a tree that had fallen... the branches leaving about a 4x4 foot opening. Now all he needed to do was walk in that direction. He stepped into the opening and I fired a shot. That new backpack did me in as the butt of my gun wasn’t snug on my shoulder and the shot went low. Off he ran directly into the swamp. Blood trickled down my face from the scope bite.

That next weekend we got some good snow. I jumped that same buck out of his bed about 100 yards below my watch. I tracked him down into the swamp and out the other side, but couldn’t catch back up to him before dark. Over the next two seasons I had interactions with him and trail camera photos and he haunted me each season. I passed on smaller bucks with him always on my mind. This season I came into it saying I was going to shoot anything that was legal as this ghost had tired me out and I needed venison.

It was November 8, 2024, my daughter’s third birthday and I headed out to hunt. I saw nothing all morning, so I worked back to my truck to eat some lunch and figure out the afternoon hunt. I decided to skirt the area where the hardwoods met the softwoods along the swamp. Along the way I decided to dip into the softwood and peek into the swamp. I stepped up onto a slightly elevated mound and gazed in. I could only see about 10 yards in any direction except for when I looked to my left. At about 40 yards I said to myself, “There’s no tree branches out there in all that green with the bark peeled off... that’s a rack buck!”

I scoped him and all I could see was antler and his head. The shaking began and I tried calming myself by focusing on my breathing. It didn’t help very much because I knew the only shot I had was where he was standing, but I couldn’t see his body. After about three minutes of scoping him he adjusted his body as it was sinking into the mossy bottom and I could tell it was slightly to the right of his head. I said this is my chance and aimed where I thought his chest was behind a small spruce tree. I squeezed a round off and he disappeared out of site.

Adrenaline dump, I thought I missed this guy again. I decided I would wait 15 minutes before sneaking in, but it ended up being 5 minutes after looking back at a text I sent to one of the camp members. It was thick as I worked my way towards where I had seen him. Nothing visible until I saw a patch of white, then half a rack sticking up in the air. I hit him high chest and dropped the 196 lb. 13-point where he stood. I took a photo and sent it to my wife... “Happy Birthday Addie”.